In The Dark
by THfreak122
Summary: There were so many things she wanted to know and she would do anything to get the answers even sell herself to the devil. Fem!Naruto!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**A/N:****I have this idea stuck in my head for such a long time now that I decided to make this into a fanfic. If you don't like FemNaruto then I suggest that you don't read this since this is a FemNaruto fanfic.**

**Warning: Characters might be out of character and FemNaruto.**

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Konoha was one of the best villages to live in if you ask everyone in Konoha, they would say proudly that it was the only village that allow the civilians to have a say in how the country is run. They would also go on and tell about how they are also the strongest village and how their Hokage even defeated the Kyuubi.

However, not everyone shares this view. An example was one Naruto Uzumaki, who would always scroff at the villagers' words. To her the way the village ran was a mockery on how a Hokage should be and the villagers were in her eyes monsters. They treat her like dirt and had tried every possible way to make her life even more miserble.

But she would never say this in front of everyone as it would cause more trouble then it was worth. If the blond haired girl could, she would run away from this village but she couldn't, as she didn't want to leave the Hokage, who she had seen as her grandfather.

But at times, she wished that she could leave the village and that was why she had choosen to become a ninja. Unlike some of the kids who had joined for the fame, she had simply joined to get out of the civilian council hands. At least the shinobi council treated her fairly and weren't biased like them.

Naruto had always been careful not draw attention to herself in the Academy as she didn't want the civilians to worry about her becoming stronger or the Uchiha to loose his pride. It was why she wore black and did her best to be average as being average was good.

Through at times, she felt like the whole village was waiting for her to snap as if they thought that she would kill them. Even through she carries the Kyuubi, she was not it. If she was him, she would have kill them for hurting her but she didn't and wouldn't if she was given the option because as much as she hated how they treat her but killing them would not solve her problems nor would beating them up.

Maybe that was why she had not killed Mizuki when she had the chance or hurt the villagers when she heard the news. But after learning she had the Kyuubi in her, she had became determined to prove their idea of her wrong. Yet, something told her that there was something else the old man was keeping from her. Not only did he not tell her who her parents were, he also kept looking at her as if he was waiting for something to happen but she does not know what!

It was because of those few reasons that she had chosen to no longer take her seat beside Sasuke, as sitting beside him would cause headache for the two of them. For her, it would be the rumors spead by the kids and for him it would be his fangirls. She almost pity him for having an insane fangirls, well almost, the bastard does deserve it.

Besides it has been a while since she sat beside Hinata. It had been a few months since she sat beside her best friend in class but then again she would blame Kiba as he kept stealing her seat beside her friend. Her friend was so gentle not to tell that dog that she didn't want him to sit beside her but she wasn't complaining; she didn't want her friend to change that part of her.

The sound of latecomers nearing the classroom and their voice made Naruto winced and she looked at Sasuke in amusement. Everyone had always found it amusing to watch girls fought over the Uchiha heir none more then her especially when it came to Ino and Sakura.

_I wonder if their obession with him will fade over time?_ Naruto ask herself, watching as the two girls argue over who got into the room first. In five minutes time, she bet those two would be arguing over who is going to sit beside Sasuke.

Her theory was proven right when Sakura walked towards Sasuke and asked him if she could sit beside him. It was barely a minute before Ino came over and argued with Sakura with the fact that she should sit beside him as she had been here first.

"You really should pity him, Hinata." Naruto said to her friend.

"P-pity who?" Hinata asked, looking at her friend in confusion.

The blond haired girl pointed at Sasuke, who was looking at her to help him with his fangirls, and said, "Well he has to deal with those crazy fangirls of his."

"Naruto!" Hinata repirmanded but she didn't seem to concern with her choice of words. The blonde simply grinned before shrugging her shoulders at her friend in a way to suggest that it was only true.

Naruto glanced at Sasuke and sighed at the pleading look on his face. They may not be friends but they did understand each other well enough that she would help him to manage the volume of his fangirls' voice and he would help her deal with her boy problems.

"Hinata make sure that no one steal my seat." The blue-haired girl looked at her in confusion. "I have to deal with pinkie and blondie if you know what I mean." Hinata sighed and nodded in understanding.

"The two of you do realize that there is another seat beside Sasuke," Naruto said, drawing the two fangirls attention to her. They scowled at her and she pointed to the other empty seat beside the raven-haired teen.

"It isn't the same!" Ino argued.

"Yeah!" Sakura agreed.

The blond shook her head at them and was silently glad that neither she nor Hinata were like them. It was also a good thing that all the fangirls know that she had no attraction to Sasuke or else they would do more then scowl at her but that doesn't stop them from issuing warnings to her.

Naruto looked at them in annoyance and said, "There is only three seats left, it is either you take those two seats or one of you sit behind Sasuke so take your pick." They frowned at this revelation and realized that the blond was right.

So Sakura took her seat beside Sasuke's left while Ino took a seat beside Sasuke's right. Neither of them were happy with this arrangement but none more so then the raven-haired teen who had looked at her in anger for making the two of them sit beside him.

She simply rolled her eyes at him and mouth to him that he should suck it up like a man. It was his turn to roll his eyes and Naruto grinned at him before taking her seat back to Hinata.

"I d-don't know how you can stand up to them." Hinata said, shuddering at the glares that Naruto was receiving.

"I got used to it," Naruto admitted, giving her friend a small smile. "Plus, I can beat them up with my hands behind my back." She boasted. Hinata smiled, knowing how true the blond words were.

It wasn't long before Iruka-sensei entered the classroom and all the genins attention were at him. Their eager eyes were waiting for him to tell them which teams they were in but to their disappointment their ex-sensei had started to talk to them about their upcoming duty as shinobi of Konohagakure.

In Naruto humble opinion, it had to be their ex-sensei longest and boring speeches that he ever gave them. In fact, she had already spotted serveral people dozing off. Finally the speech ended and the main event came, namely the team assignments and none of the new genins were falling asleep.

Naruto watched with boredom as various names were called and the genin in question reacted to their placement with either joy or disappointment. She waited for her name to come up. Finally:

"Team Seven: Uzumaki Naruto," she perked up, "Haruno Sakura," Naruto slammed her forehead against the table to the amusement of Hinata. "And Uchiha Sasuke."

"Iruka-sensei, why am I paired with Sasuke over there? My marks would have putten me along the half way in the class so why am I paired with the Rookie of the Year when it should be Shikamaru who had gotten the lowest mark." Naruto asked, looking at their sensei in curiosity.

Iruka rubbed the back of his neck at his student question as the other genins looked at him in curiosity to answer that question. "You were the only logical person to be put in this team as you are the only one that is fitted for all the teams." He admitted.

The blond haired girl shook her head at this revelation. She had been hoping that she would be paired with Hinata, as she didn't want her friend to deal with any strangers. But what could she do? Threaten the Hokage? Even she wasn't insane to do that.

"In the afternoon, we will introduce your jounin-senseis," said Iruka once everyone was placed on a team. "Until then take a break." The students started to disperse, discussing the pros and cons of their new squads.

Sasuke rose silently and walked out the door, Sakura following him like the fangirl that she was. Sasuke pretended she didn't exist. Naruto frowned at this scene. This was in no way a good thing; the three of them were suppose to act like a team.

Naruto sighed and thought to herself that she shouldn't have become a ninja if she was going to expect this type of behavior. But then again, she wouldn't have any freedom to travel if she was something else.

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**Author Note: please review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Author Note: I want to thank everyone who added this in their story alerts, favorite story and took the time to review the last chapter.**

**Warning: Characters might be out of character and FemNaruto.**

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They had been waiting for the past two hours and fifty-five minutes, not that Naruto has been counting the moment when they meet their sensei. It wouldn't be bad if she had her friends with her but they had left an hour ago with their sensei leaving her with Sasuke and Sakura as company.

But it wasn't that bad if she admitted to herself since she wasn't in a hurry to talk to them. After all, who would want to talk to their teammate when they had a good book to read? Not her that was for sure.

"Where the hell is our sensei?" Sakura growled. Naruto looked up from her book and saw that Sakura was pacing back and forth at the front of the room. Smiling, Naruto wondered if she was to expect this type of lateness from their sensei.

"Do I look like I know where our sensei is? I am in the same boat as you guys." Naruto said, returning her eyes back on the page that she had been reading. "If you are so board, why don't you find yourself a scroll to read? I am pretty sure that Iruka-sensei has some scrolls on his drawers."

It was in that moment that the door slid open to revel a sliver-haired man wearing a jonin vest, his forehead protector covering his left eye. His visible eye seized them up as if he was deciding whether or not they were worth his time.

"Well my first impression of you guy is...that I hate you," the jonin said. Sasuke and Sakura sweat-dropped while Naruto simply chuckled at this information. "Is there anything funny blonde?" the jonin asked.

The petite blond haired girl looked up at the jonin, her cerulean blue eyes were lit up in amusement. "Well my first impression of you isn't that very high considering that not only were you late but you do not know our name. What type of teacher does not know his own students' name?" she said sarcastically.

"Naruto-baka, shut up!" Sakura cried, her fist rose to strike the back of Naruto's head.

The blue-eyed girl narrowed her eyes at this movement and leaned out of the way as soon as Sakura brought it down. Sakura lost her balance and fell over. She looked up and saw that the blond seemed to be disappointed in her as if she expected her not to do this.

"Honestly, I expected better of you, Sakura." Naruto said, helping the pink-haired girl to stand up. The said pink-haired girl got annoyed at her teammate's words. How dare the girl criticize her? Not once had she seen the blond ever worked truly hard.

"Oh and what did you expect from me? I got better marks then you baka."

Naruto wasn't fazed nor angry at Sakura's words instead she was calm and composed. "Yes you did but I had expected you not to hit me seeing as we are teammates." She explained, giving a pointed look at Sasuke who grunted at her words. "Which means you do not hit me and I won't make any snide comments about you."

_So that is Uzumaki?_ Kakashi thought._ Her file had said that she was boastful, of average intelligence and skills. But this kid seems to be humble and slightly above intelligence and I don't know about skill, as I haven't seen any so far._

"All right you three, meet on top of the Academy in ten minutes," Kakashi said before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Naruto looked at the puff of smoke and put her hands behind her head. "Do you think we should go meet with him now or be late? I would go with the latter as that would teach him a lesson." Suggested Naruto, grinning at them. Sasuke rolled his eyes at her comment and dragged her by the ear to meet their sensei.

"Oi, bastard why the hell are you dragging me by the ear!" Naruto yelled, glaring at the Uchiha heir in anger.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her and said, "You know as well as I do that if I let go that you would skip the introduction just to teach him a lesson!"

"Touché."

The Uchiha clan heir finally let go of her ear as soon as they were on top of the Academy. Naruto rubbed her ear and glared at the smirking Sasuke while Sakura simply giggled at this action.

"You know you didn't have to pull that hard, bastard." Said Naruto, taking a seat beside Sasuke. She would have taken a seat beside Sakura but she didn't want to hear the pinkie loud voice.

"Well, let us begin with introducing yourselves," Kakashi said.

"That is a board topic," Naruto pointed out, "What do you want us to tell you about?"

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders and suggested, "How about your likes, dislikes, your dreams for the future and things like that. Blonde, you are up first."

Naruto glared at Kakashi. "Very well, my name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like reading, training and painting and I dislike people who don't take their job seriously," she chuckled softly. "Also I don't like people who humiliate others to make themselves feel stronger. And I have many dreams but I guess the main one is to see the world as as well as having a family of my own one day." _And to know the truth about my family,_ Naruto finished silently.

Kakashi grinned behind his mask._ This girl got some spunk. She insulted both of her teammates without coming out and saying it._

"All right pinkie you are next." Kakashi said.

"Y-yes. My name is Haruno Sakura. I like…" she trailed off and glanced at Sasuke. To Naruto's amusement and Sasuke's chagrin, the pink-haired girl squealed before continuing. "I dislike Naruto-"

"Dislike you too, pinkie." Naruto said, grinning at her. Sakura glared at her for interrupting but the blonde simply chuckled and rolled her eyes at her.

"As I was saying my dream is to…" again Sakura trailed off as her face went red.

Naruto rolled her eyes as Sasuke ignored Sakura. Sometimes, she wonders if the Uchiha clan heir was gay after all wasn't it every guy dream to have girls chasing after him? Well if it was anything like what she had seen then she didn't blame him.

_Why is she even a ninja? I swear to Kami that they gave me her as a punishment._ Kakashi thought. "All right, let us see what Emo boy has to say."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are a lot of things I dislike and I don't really like anything and I can't really call it a dream. But I have an ambition, the resurrection of my clan and to kill a certain man." Sasuke said, his fingers covering the bottom half of his face.

Naruto grimaced at her new teammate's words. For the past four years, she saw Sasuke turn from a happy boy to a sad lonely boy craving for power. Nothing she had done cheered him up, the best that she could do for him was to make him act a little bit less cold hearted.

"Wait sensei what about you?" Sakura asked, snapping Naruto back into reality.

"My name is Hayate Kakashi and I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes. My dream for the future…hmm, and I have lots of hobbies." Kakashi answered, smiling at the three speechless genins.

"All he told us was his name." Sakura whispered to her teammates.

The blue-eyed girl wrinkled her nose and dryly said, "At least sensei has a sense of humor, can't say the same for some of the jonins I have seen."

"And how does he have sense of humor?"

Naruto lips curled into a small smile at her teammate's question but didn't try to explain her words to her teammate. Sakura sighed in frustration while Sasuke simply shook his head at her. It was nice to see that the Uchiha heir knew her well enough to know that she simply found explanation tedious.

"Come on Naruto what do you mean by that?"

"Yes, Naruto-chan do tell us what you meant by that." Kakashi asked, looking at the blond girl in amusement and laziness.

"First off don't call me Naruto-chan and secondly, I found it funny that you now know a lot of things about us but we don't know shit about you." Naruto yawned. "Honestly, I was hoping to know more about my sensei but I guess I shouldn't expect much from such a lazy man."

"That hurts Naruto-chan!"

Naruto glared at him and said in a sweet voice, "Call me Naruto-chan again and I will make sure that you won't ever be able to have children." He nodded. This girl definitely has a lot of spunk.

"Alright now so far for the introductions, tomorrow we will start our duties as shinobi."

The blond-haired girl lazily looked up at the sky and asked, "What kind of duties may I ask?"

"First we are going to do something with just the four of us." Kakashi answered.

The petite blond returned her attention to the sliver haired man and sharply asked, "Would you mind going further detail about that? Because you can't expect us to be prepared if you do not give us any details."

The slivered-hair jonin chuckled and answered, "Survival training."

Naruto arched her eyebrows at him and repeated, "Survival training?" She glanced at her teammates and was happy to see that she was not the only one confused.

"Why is our first duty a training? We have had enough training at the Academy." Naruto scoffed at Sakura's words. The said pink-haired girl raised her eyebrows at her teammate.

"Do you have something to say Naruto!" Sakura screeched.

"Sure do," Naruto said, not bothering to look at her teammate as she said this. "What the Academy taught us was a mockery on how a ninja should be! I mean seriously they put more emphasis on book smarts instead of actual ninja skill."

Kakashi could almost see the steam rolling off Sakura's face. He looked at Naruto, who simply ignored the girl and was sitting there like she had said nothing wrong.

"H-how can you say that!" Sakura cried.

The blond-haired girl smiled distastefully at her teammate and answered, "Books can only get you so far Sakura and besides how would knowing the first Hokage's Kekkai Genkai help us in the battlefield?" she chuckled. "I am not surprised that so many genins die on their first C-rank mission."

"N-Naruto, what do you mean?" Sakura stuttered.

Naruto didn't answer her teammate's question, deciding that she had already spoken too much. She had already spoke about her disgust of the Academy and that was risky enough but to explain in further detail will get her into even more trouble.

Kakashi was looking at the blond-haired girl in front of him with interest. Maybe this bunch of genins had a chance but it all goes down to tomorrow's test.

"As much as I like hearing you guys argue, I still have to tell you about the survival training," Kakashi said, drawing their attention back to him. "This isn't an normal training, this time I am your opponent."

The blond haired girl eyebrows twitched at this new piece of information but other then that reaction, she had no expression on her face. Sasuke was brooding while Sakura was nervous.

"What is it?" Sakura asked. Kakashi chucked causing the three genins to look at him in confusion. "What is so funny sensei?"

"Uhm…Well…it is just that when I tell you this you guys are totally going to freak out." Kakashi explained.

"And why would we freak out?" Naruto asked.

"Of the 27 graduates, only 9 will be chosen to become a genin and the rest will be send back to the Academy. This training is a very difficult exam with a failure rate of over 66%!" Kakashi explained, enjoying the shock looks on the genin's faces.

"I see so the exam that we took was to eliminate those that did not have the potential to become genins." Naruto said after she got over her shock. He nodded and Sakura and Sasuke were shocked that she figures it out so quickly.

"Anyway, tomorrow you have to show your real skills on the training ground and bring all the shinobi tools you have." Kakashi ordered. "Oh and skip breakfast, you might throw up."

Naruto simply frowned and thought to herself that there was something wrong with this test. He tells them not to eat breakfast, the most important meal of the day, that told her that he was planning to make them be at their weakest but why? Well, whatever the reason was, she was not skipping breakfast.

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The street that she lived in was not considered to be the safest place to live in Konoha, in fact it was one of the most dangerous place to live in. The civilian council had given her this house after she had been kicked out of the orphanage. It was still a surprise that she was still alive considering the dangers that impose on her.

Naruto ignored the heated glares from the adults and the heavy smell of alcohol in the air. The smalls kids running in front of her soon stopped running and scuttle out of her way, knowing that their parents would be angry with them for being here.

She was about to turn around the corner when in the corner of her eye, she saw an old man playing a game of go by himself. She looked at him and was surprised to see no malice or ill intent in his eye. Who was this old man? Not once had she seen such kind eyes on her.

"Naruto, would you mind playing a game of Go with an old man like me." The old man asked, pointing to the chair in front of him. He smiled at her and she wondered how the old man knew her name but then she realized that she was famous in the village for having that thing sealed in her.

Naruto opened her mouth to protest and warned him about talking to the village pariah but the kindnesses in his eyes made her shut her mouth and take the seat.

"You know child, I have not seen such a strong child in my long life and I had been around for many things," said the old man matter-of-factually. He smiled at her and moved his piece. "To face such hardships in your young life and still be able smile tells me that you are a strong girl."

"T-Thank you." Naruto stuttered as she moved her piece. The old man smiled at her and chuckled at her piece. His light brown eyes twinkle in mirth and she wondered what was so funny.

"I did not suspect such a move child," She frowned and he continued. "It a compliment Naruto, many people forgot that being predictable is boring."

"Sir?"

"Call me Norio, Naruto." The old man chuckled. "Being called sir reminds me that I am old."

"Alright, Norio." Naruto smiled. "Norio, isn't being predictable nice?"

Norio smiled at her and moved his piece before answering his question. "To many people being predictable is nice but to me it makes life boring. Can you imagine doing the same thing over and over again, child?"

The blond haired girl shook her head at him and admitted, "It would make me feel bored."

"Yes but that is not the only nice thing about you," Norio said. "You my dear child have an ability that has been wanted by man from the beginning of time."

"W-what are you talking about?" Naruto asked, moving her piece. Her eyes widen when she saw that she somehow unconsciously had made no more moves for Norio to do.

Norio chuckled and answered, "It is still dormant in you but it is slowly awaking up as you can see from this match."

"W-What are you talking about?"

The old man smiled at her and explained, "I will explain your ability to you when you truly waken it…" he sighed and smiled sadly. "But it won't happen until you met your other half."

"M-My other half?"

Naruto blinked her eyes and was surprised to see that the old man was gone and she was sitting in an abandon road. What the heck just happened? And who was the old man that she was talking to? But most of all, why does she have a feeling that she knew this man? So many question that needed answering.

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**Author Note: I do not know when I will update but I do know that I will update as soon as I can. I would also like to ask you to review as it would give me more motivation to update sooner.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Author Note: I want to thank everyone who added this in their story alerts, favorite story and took the time to review the last chapter. Now as for updates, I will update as soon as I can.**

**Warning: Characters might be out of character and FemNaruto.**

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It had been six whole months since Naruto met that old man Norio and in those six months, she had been noticing that she would only get glimpses of things to be but it took her while to figure it out. Well, she hadn't really figured it out until she saw a glimpse of Haku dying by Kakashi's hands even then she hadn't believed it till she saw it happen. After the shock wore off, she started to blame herself.

If she had been more intelligent, she would have figure out the signs earlier but like a fool she ignored it. None of her teammates understood why she blamed herself in fact they dare tell her that it was a good thing that he had died. It disgusts her how they think so little of human life.

Not only had she been having glimpses of the future, she had also started to feel more connected with the elements around her. What was happening to her? She would ask the Hokage or Kakashi but she feared that they would think that she was crazy.

Wandering around the village had now become a habit of hers to do as of lately as it helped her calm her mind. It might have to do with the fact that by walking around she would put her concentration in ignoring the villagers then on Haku and Zabuza's death or the strange new ability that she now started to waken.

She gave a smile at the glaring adults, who flinched at her, and then continue, on her way with no destination in mind. Occasionally, she would stop walking and smell the flowers before continuing on with her walk.

"Sometimes I really wish that I had run away from this village," Naruto said to herself, looking at the bookstore in longing. Going inside the book store was truly tempting for her to do but just remembering the treatment that she would have go through made her want to stay outside.

She gritted her teeth as she thought of the unfairness that she was getting by the hands of these villagers. What the hell had she done to deserve this? She was as much as victim as them even more so, not only was she his (she rather prefer to call the Kyuubi a him instead of it.) jailor but she was also an orphan.

Naruto clenched her hands into a fist as she thought about her parents. The Hokage told her that her parents didn't abandon her that they had died during the attack but she couldn't help but think that maybe the villagers were right and they did abandon her.

The sounds of angered yells snapped her out of her troubled thoughts. Naruto pursed her lips and debated whether or not to go see what was happening or go back to her lonely apartment.

She chose the first option.

The blond haired girl quickly ran to the sight of the commotion and was surprised to see Konohamaru being hold up by a Suna genin, who wore make up on his face. Beside the Suna genin, was his female teammate who had a pissed expression on her face.

"I-I am sorry, I was messing around…" A familiar voice apologizes. Naruto looked around the empty street to find the familiar voice and was surprised to see Sakura, who was standing right beside her. Why hadn't she noticed her?

"Mind telling me what is happening Bubblegum?"

Sakura stared at her teammate. Normally, she would argue with her teammate about calling her that ridiculous nickname but for once she acted like her teammate and didn't argue.

"W-Well, the kid called me names and I might have chased after him and uh I might have been planning to hurt him." Sakura admitted wincing at the glare that Naruto was giving her.

The blond haired girl slapped her forehead and silently asked, "Sakura, how old are you? And how old is he? He may have insulted you but you should have acted better and not try to chase after him."

"You wanted me to let him go unpunished!" Sakura yelled.

Naruto shook her head and explained, "Of course not but hitting him wouldn't be a good idea and besides, what could you have done to make him say those words?"

Sakura face turned red as she explained to the blond haired girl, what she had done to got the insult. By the end of the explanation, Naruto was laughing. She should have known that the blond would not take it seriously, how could she have thought that the girl would take it seriously?

"Well, at least Konohamaru have a good reason to call you that." Naruto said, after she was done laughing.

"Uh, Naruto-nee-chan are you done laughing?" Konohamaru asked sweetly.

"Yes,"

"Good because can you get me out of here!" Konohamaru yelled, kicking and punching the older genin's body.

The blond haired girl sighed at him and looked at the genin before shaking her head at him. "I am truly sorry for what my idiotic teammate and my silly little brother has done to you," Naruto said, smiling at him. "But can you please let him down."

"And why should I?" The make-up wearing genin asked.

"Because it is the right thing to do." Naruto pointed out dryly.

He looked at her thoughtfully. The blond haired girl shuddered in displeasure when she saw how his eyes were raking her body as if she were a prize to be won. She clenched her hand into a fist, thinking to herself that punching him won't be a crime.

"Alright but only if you agree to go out on a date with me."

The blue-eyed girl looked at him in disbelief but quickly regain her senses. She gave the boy a sweet smile and sweetly said, "I don't go out with guys that wear more make up then me and besides I don't think bullies are my type."

The Suna kunoichi and Sakura giggled at her words while Konohamaru rolled his eyes at her. Naruto shot him a warning glance and he shut up, knowing if that he say anything bad to her then she won't help him.

"It is war paint, not make up!" Kankuro yelled.

Naruto gave him an innocent look and innocently asked, "Are you sure? Because from where I am standing that does look like make up." He growled at her words and she simply gave him an impassive look.

"Why you little…"

"I am only stating the truth." Naruto said, smiling sweetly at him. Her eyes harden as she said the next sentence. "Just like I am telling you that the kid you are holding is the Hokage's grandson and I am sure that he won't be happy with your Kazekage if he knew that someone attacked his grandson."

Kankuro snorted in disbelief and he pointed out, "If he is your Hokage's grandson then why did she attack him?"

The blonde shrugged her shoulders and said, "My teammate is easily angered and never really think about the consequence of her action isn't that right, Bubblegum?"

Sakura snapped out of her shock and reluctantly nodded. It was truly times like these that she hated how her teammate seemed to be better than her. Naruto was good at everything; hell she even got Sasuke's attention. Sometimes, she thinks that her real rival is Naruto not Ino when it came to her crush heart.

"Besides, do you really want to take the chance and have the Hokage's wrath?" Naruto asked. He reluctantly shook his head and let the little boy down, who quickly ran towards his older sister figure but not before sticking his tongue out to him.

"Good de-" Naruto trailed off and Sakura wondered why. She looked at the direction that the blonde was looking and saw a redhead boy standing upside down on a tree branch. Beside him was Sasuke.

"G…Gaara." Kankuro practically whimpered.

The blond haired girl simply rolled her eyes at how pathetic the make-up wearing genin sounded and focused her attention to Sasuke. "How long have you been up in that tree bastard?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at her and answered, "Long enough to see your diplomatic skills."

"And how do I rank?"

The raven-haired teen sighed and answered reluctantly, "A seven."

"And here I thought that you would rank me a ten." Naruto said sarcastically.

The Uchiha heir lips twitch at the girl's words. He could safely say without a doubt that Naruto was his friend and rival, it also doesn't help that she was pretty and didn't see him as a prize or pity him,

"Only in your dreams and besides you insulted the Suna genin, how does that rank a ten?" He yelled.

The blond-haired girl shrugged her shoulders and said, "You would too if he looked at you as if you were a prize to be won." He snorted and her eyebrows twitch at him. "Do tell me what would you have done if it was one of your fan girls."

He didn't answer.

"I thought so." Naruto said smugly.

"Kankuro," the redhead said. "You nearly started a war between our two nations because some kid bumped into you." Naruto couldn't help but nodded in agreement with him. "You truly an embarrassment to our village."

"Can't say I disagree with you there." Naruto said to the redhead boy. She frowned at his position and asked, "Wouldn't it be better if you stand on the ground instead of the tree? It would be much safer for you and you can give him a way better scolding near him then far away."

Gaara stared at her and she shrugged her shoulder at him and said in amusement, "I know that I am pretty but you don't have to stare at me."

His eyes widen at her words while the Suna genin gawked at her. Sakura had looked at her in disbelief while Sasuke simply sighed at her behavior. Konohamaru in the other hand simply looked at her in confusion.

"Aren't you a little full of yourself, Naruto?" Sakura asked.

The blond haired girl shrugged her shoulders and agreed reluctantly, "Perhaps you are right." She then dryly pointed out. "But I got a big ego about my appearance thanks to all those boys that have been chasing after me for the past god know how many years."

"I really don't know what they see in you." Sakura said. Sasuke would have opened his mouth to answer her question but didn't knowing that Naruto would think that he was only complimenting her and Sakura would then have an argument with the blond causing said blond to be angry with her.

"I have a few ideas on why they like me." Naruto admitted. "All of which is really shallow just like the few reasons on why you like Sasuke."

"My reasons on liking Sasuke are not shallow!" Sakura yelled. The Suna genin can only sweat dropped at this scene in front of them.

"Really now?"

"What is that suppose to mean!" Sakura yelled.

The blond haired girl sighed and said, "Explaining to you will be too troublesome but take it as a compliment or an insult, as it is your decision."

"A-Anyways," Gaara said. Temari and Kankuro couldn't help but be amazed at the stutter in his voice and the almost invisible blush on his face. "Why do you think that we came to Leaf village?" the question was directed towards Kankuro and Temari.

"Listen Gaara, they started it…" Kankuro began a rather childish explanation.

"Why isn't that childish of you to say." Naruto muttered under her breath. Sakura quietly giggled at her teammate's words.

"Shut up or I'll kill you," Gaara said in a flat, conversational tone. Yet there was no doubt that he would really do it. Kankuro immediately fell silent.

Naruto eyes widen at his words and said without even thinking, "Isn't that a little bit harsh for you to say?"

He arched his invisible eyebrows at her and said, "No."

"Really then what is harsh for you to say?" Naruto asked. Everyone gawked at her but none more so then Sasuke and Sakura. It was almost unlike her to act like this in fact she would be the first to warn them not to say anything that would anger anyone dangerous.

"Naruto, I think you said enough." Sasuke whispered to his teammate.

The blond haired girl stubbornly shook her head at him and coldly said, "He just threatened to kill his teammate how the hell am I suppose to keep my mouth shut?"

"Naruto!" Sasuke whispered.

"Oh and what would you do if you were in my shoes?" Gaara shot back. This blond haired girl was completely different from everyone that he had seen and killed.

"Probably lecture him or at least report the incident to your superior." The blond haired girl answered truthfully. "Maybe even whack him on the head for doing something so stupid."

Kankuro and Temari stared at the blue-eyed girl in shock, not once in their life had they seen someone standing up to their little brother. It just wasn't right and this small girl was going to get herself killed if she keeps going like this.

"Ok, I am sorry…" Kankuro said, drawing their attention back to him. For once he will shallow his fear of his brother and put his attention back on him then on the girl.

"I am also sorry…really sorry," Temari added, her voice trembling in fear. Gaara seemed to ignore her completely. He stared at Naruto for a moment and then jumped down from the branch, landing between Temari and Kankuro.

"Sorry to you guys." Gaara said to them.

Naruto arched her eyebrows at him and asked, "Are you truly sorry?"

He glared at her, resulting her to smile sweetly at him. "That is not going to scare me, Tanuki-kun."

"Tanuki-kun?" He asked, looking at her in confusion.

The blond haired girl nodded in amusement and explained, "The circles surrounding your eyes reminds me of them."

"What is your name?" Gaara asked.

Naruto chuckled at him and answered. "I don't give my names to strangers, so if you want my name you better make me want to say it or at least figure it out because no way in hell am I telling you my name."

He arched his eyebrows at her and she simply shrugged her shoulders at him as her response. Something about him made her feel dizzy and the old man words about her other half kept reminding her. He sighed and she grinned.

"Let's go," he said. The Suna trio turned to leave. Naruto exhaled in relief and calmness. She didn't like how he made her feel out of character and if they ever meet again, she would be out of the door.

"Wait!" Sakura's voice stopped the three in their tracks. Naruto slapped her forehead at her teammate's silliness; they already spend too much time with them. A minute more will surely get them to trouble. "Judging from your hitai-ate, you are ninjas from the Hidden Sand Village, right?" Naruto didn't understand how her teammate could state the obvious. "You might be allies of our village but it is forbidden for shinobi to enter each other's village without permission. State your purpose. Depending on it, we might not be able to let you go."

"Just let them go on their own merry way, Bubblegum."

Sakura looked at her shocked and she yelled, "It is our duty as Leaf shinobis to ask why they are here, Naruto!"

"It is practically pointless." Naruto argued softly.

"No it isn't." Sakura argued back.

The blond sighed and asked to the three genins, "You three are here for the chunin exams am I right?" Sakura and Sasuke looked at her in confusion, which she happily ignored.

"Yes," Temari said, not looking scared anymore. "Your teammate is completely clueless, aren't they?"

"No, she comes from a civilian family and well you get the picture." Naruto said, shaking her head at her teammate. "However, I prefer you show your passport to her so that we can be extra sure and uh if you don't mind, could you explain to her? I find explanation rather tedious if you know what I mean." She explained.

Temari pursed her lips and showed them her passport before explaining to her teammates about the chunin exams.

Sasuke jumped down from the tree, obviously not wanting to be outdone by Sakura's sudden show of daring. Naruto shook her head at him and wondered why couldn't she have a less power-hungry friend? It will ruin him one day, she can promise you that.

"What's your name?" Sasuke asked.

"You mean me?" Temari asked, blushing. Naruto rolled her eyes at her. Seriously, what was it with girls and Sasuke?

"No," The Last Uchiha said coldly. "You with the gourd."

"Gaara of the desert," the redhead said. "I am also interested in your name and your blond teammate's name."

"Tell him my name bastard and I will punch the living daylights after you." Naruto said, giving him a pointed look. Sasuke gulped and nodded fearfully as he remembered what the girl had done to Kakashi when he had read the Icha-Icha books in front of them.

"It is Uchiha Sasuke."

"And you blonde?" Gaara asked.

The petite girl smiled and said, "I already told you that I am not giving you my name and besides you might know it in the chunin exams." Sakura and Sasuke looked at her in shock. He nodded and left with his teammates.

"Why did you say that he would know your name in the chunin exams, Naruto?" Sakura and Sasuke asked.

"Simple," Naruto answered. "Because I know better then anyone what Kakashi plans to do."

"What do you mean?"

The blond haired girl didn't answer instead transfixing her glaze at Sasuke. She knew well enough that the civilian council would pressure their sensei into allowing Sasuke to go into the chunin exam and their sensei will give in to the pressure.

But her teammates didn't deserve to know that.

* * *

It had been six months since she last saw the old man. Naruto had always wonder when she will see the old man again and she had lost hope a few months ago when she had asked the people in her neighborhood if they knew an old man called Norio.

So imagine her surprise when she turned around the same corner as before and found him playing a game of chess by himself. Was this apart of her imagination again? She hoped not.

"Ah, Naruto it is good to see you again." Norio said, standing up to greet her. He looked just the same as before, not a day older then sixty-five.

"Sir?" Naruto asked. He smiled at her and led her towards the chessboard for them to play game. She frowned when she saw that the board was already set up as if he had already planned this. Maybe he had? She wouldn't be surprised.

"Yes, my dear child." Norio asked, moving his white pawn. His eyes twinkle in mirth as if he knew something that she didn't. She gulped and wonders why she didn't have the courage to ask him any questions.

"I-I have a question to ask of you." She asked as she moved her black pawn. He sighed at her and gave her a small sad smile.

"I presume it is about the strange things that have been happening to you, am I right?" She nodded and he chuckled. "I also going to presume that you have been feeling more connected to the elements and seeing glimpses of things to be, am I right?"

"H-How do you know?"

"I know a lot of things my child." Norio informed her. "I know what is to be your future if you keep going on the path that you chose for yourself and I know the other countless possibly futures for yourself."

"Possible future?"

"Child do you think that there is only one future?" Norio asked in amusement and she reluctantly nodded. "My dear child, everyone of us have many possible futures but which one is the actions that you choose to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Your great-grandmother for example could have been one of the best ninja that this world had seen but only if she had chosen to stick to her dream and not follow what her parents had chose for her." Norio explained.

"And mine?"

The old man chuckled at her eager expression and said, "I can not tell you yours and to tell you the truth you are the first one in the past hundred years to unlock that Kekkai Genkai."

"W-What? Why?"

"Don't know it is pretty rare to see an Uzumaki that can see the future now and days." Norio explained.

"B-But what about the elements thing?"

"Father side, once upon time your ancestors wished to have the ability to control the elements and Kami granted but with a price." Norio explained. His face darkens and she feared what was the price.

"W-What was the price?"

The old man sighed and answered, "To unlock that ability, you will need to find your other half, soul mate whatever you call it."

"Did my father…"

"Yes and I got to say it scared the crap out of him when I started to tell him all of this as well." Norio said. He sighed at her and gave her once over before chuckling, "It seems like you have found your other half."

Naruto didn't know why she was blushing at his words. "S-So what am I going to do about them?"

Norio raised his eyebrows and answered cheerfully, "I am going to train you of course. I don't want you to cause an earthquake or tsunami like your ancestor did."

"How do you know this? And how can you train me, I mean you are an old man." Naruto pointed out.

"I have been around longer then you think and I can train you better then that lazy sensei of yours." Norio boasted. He frowned and quickly mumbled about something about Chidori and biting him in the ass.

"I don-"

"Train with me and I will tell you everything you need to know about your parents and heritage." Norio said quickly before she could deny his training. The blond haired girl sighed; the old man was good in getting her to do it. She was curious to know of her parents.

"Alright."

He grinned and before she knew it, the old man was gone and she was back in the empty road. She blinked her eyes and realized that she had forgotten to ask him when the training would start. Why did she have a feeling that she was going to regret agreeing to train under him?

* * *

**Author Note: I do not know when I will update but I do know that I will update as soon as I can. I would also like to ask you to review, as it would give me more motivation to update sooner.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Author Note: I want to thank everyone who added this in their story alerts, favorite story and took the time to review the last chapter.**

**Warning: Characters might be out of character and FemNaruto.**

* * *

Most people would still be asleep at five o'clock in the morning but not Naruto, who had been woken up by Norio, who was still laughing at her facial expression. She gritted her teeth as she remembered how he had poured freezing cold water on her. The blond haired girl did not know where he had gotten the water or how he knew where she lived and frankly she didn't want to know.

"Why the bloody hell that you woke up me up this bloody morning?" Naruto yelled at the laughing old man. "And why the hell are you in my house!"

"Well, I got only four hours to train you before you have to go see your sensei seeing as you need half an hour to eat and another half an hour to go to the special training ground," Norio explained, chucking at the angry little girl. "And how else would I wake you up by going to your house and wake you up."

"You could have just shook me instead of pouring water on me." Naruto complained at the old man. "Not only did I have to change clothes but I have to change the sheets."

"I wanted to try something different and something less dangerous."

Naruto arched her eyebrows at him but didn't question. It was too troublesome to ask and also she didn't want to know his more dangerous methods on waking a person up. After all there were some questions better left not asked and this was one of them.

"So uh, what are you training me on?"

The old man shook his head at her and asked, "Didn't I tell you that I am going to train you on how to control your Kekkai Genkai?"

The blond haired girl nodded reluctantly and said, "Yes but you haven't explained how you are going to train me, I mean do you have the same abilities as me or what?"

"My abilities with the elements, you can say is more stronger then yours or any of your father ancestor's power."

"Really?" Naruto wasn't convinced. He looked old and didn't seem to look strong or any sign that he was strong.

"Trust me child, when I was just young lad I could cause a whole mountain to be split." Norio boasted.

The blue-eyed girl sighed at his words. He frowned at her as if he had expected her to swoon at this new piece of information. The only response to his frown from her was a simple arched of the eyebrows.

"Why are you not in awe at what I am saying!" He cried.

The petite girl sighed and said; "I don't see how I can be in awe when I haven't seen it up close." An image flashed through her mind and she growled at him. "Don't even think of damaging my apartment, Norio-oji, I do not have the time or money to repair them."

The old man pouted at her words causing said girl to shake her head at him in amusement. He reminded her so much of a loveable grandfather and a crazy uncle all rolled in one. She smiled bitterly and wished that the old man were her relative; he had given her more attention then anyone she had known and was teaching her things that a family should be teaching her.

She sighed and went to the kitchen to make herself some breakfast. At least he was giving her half an hour to eat her breakfast unlike some people who make their students skip it.

"Are these your artworks?" Norio asked, pointing to the artworks that were hanging on the walls.

The blond-haired girl looked out of the kitchen door to see the painting that he was talking about. She smiled bitterly when she saw that he was pointing towards the one where she painted a child running away from monsters. It was one of her darker artworks and she had always made sure that it was not seen when she had company coming over.

"Yes," Naruto answered finally. "I do hope that you do not mind how dark it is."

"No, it does capture the life that you have." Norio answered. He fingered the smoothness of the paint and then marveled at how life like it was. The little girl in the painting looked so frighten from the monsters but was standing tall against them. The shining light beside her told him that it symbolizes the hope that Naruto has.

"I am surprise that you figure out it is about my life." Naruto said, taking a bite of her eggs.

Norio smiled sadly at her and said, "It is very easy to figure it out but I got to ask, why don't you sell it? You will get a lot of money out of it, I presume."

"Perhaps," Naruto agreed. "But, who will buy from me? I am but a child in their eyes and not only that I am the village pariah."

"I can help you with that," The old man said, smiling at her. "I have an art gallery in the other side of town and I can help you make a penname."

"Really now?" Naruto asked, looking at him with interest. She mulled over his offer about putting her artworks in the gallery for him to sale. The idea was very tempting and in a way these artworks were a sign of her rebellion against the people of Konoha.

"Yes and I will give you the money in exchange that you will continue on with the paintings and your ninja career." Norio offered.

"That is very generous of you," Naruto said. "But seriously, what is in it for you? First the training and now the artwork, what do you want from me?"

The old man sighed and innocently asked, "And what makes you think that I want something from you?"

"Nothing is free," The blond haired girl answered bitterly. "Everything comes with a price so tell me what do you want from me?"

"Many things," The old man answered softly.

"Such as?" Naruto prompted.

Norio simply chuckled and ruffled her hair telling her that he will tell her price when the time comes. The sly look in his eyes made Naruto wonder how great the price was.

"Can you at least tell me that these jobs, would they by any chance be for the civilian council or to help other villages or for criminals?"

"I will say helping other villages," Norio answered truthfully. "And you will only stop working for me when you get married or you are with a child."

Naruto chuckled at the old man's words. The chances of her getting married or having a child was very slim in fact she will even go as far as to say impossible after all what sane man will marry her? Besides to get marry will mean she will have to trust the man and she doesn't trust easily as she had led others to believe.

"Naruto, you will one day get married that is for sure." Norio informed her. "Not in one of the futures that I did not see you not getting marry."

"Maybe your visions are wrong! Name me one boy that will like me for me and not because I am like the forbidden fruit!"

The old man sighed at her words. He didn't say anything about her comment but only gave her a sad smile as if he knew the real reasons why she had these types of thoughts.

It scares her how he always seemed to know everything about her especially how he knew what she was thinking or her dreams. A man who knows people thoughts and their dreams is a dangerous man.

"You still do not trust me, child." Norio said softly. "Why is that? What have I done wrong to make you not trust me?"

Naruto didn't respond to the old man question, deciding to give him an apologetic look. He sighed at her and informed her that as soon as she was done eating that she would have to go to the forest for her training. With one final glance at her, the old man left her to eat her breakfast.

Naruto looked at the trees in front of her with awe. She had never truly thought about how tall the trees in Konoha were or how green the leaves, it made her want to paint the whole forest into a canvas. Without hesitating, Naruto touched the bark of the tree to see how rough the wood was.

"I am happy to see that you are interested with the trees, now I wonder if you as interested as your training." Norio said, jumping down from the tree in front of her. Her glare was the response to his question.

"Why are we training in a forest?"

The old man gave her a grin and answered, "Well, I need you to be away from prying eyes especially your Hokage."

Naruto frowned at the old man words, noticing the weariness and hatred at the man words when he said Hokage. It made her wonder what the Hokage had done to him to make him feel that way? Her frown deepen as she realized that she do not know much about the man.

"So what do we do now?" Naruto asked, trying to change the subject.

The old man sighed and answered happily, "Why you will meditation of course!"

"And why do I need to meditate?"

Norio sighed at the young girl in front of him, it was so easy to forget that this girl was not as old as he was or had anyone guide her with her training. It was a miracle that the girl was as strong as she was but then again, she taught herself and he knew just how strong she could be with the right teacher.

"Norio, why do I need to meditate?" Naruto repeated herself.

The old man smiled and answered, "Meditation is not easy and if there was an easier way, I would make you do it but atlas there isn't. I want you to reach a level of consciousness where you are so aware that you can feel the nature around you breathing as easily as you find breathing."

Naruto tilted her head at him and asked, "And how am I going to do? Does nature truly breathe?"

"Of course child, everything around you live and breathe." Norio answered in amusement. "You are now more connected to nature but it is important that you feel them and submit yourself to your surroundings to nature."

Naruto frowned and asked, "How is nature connect with elements? I mean how does it connect with my bloodline? Aren't they two different things?"

"They are the same but at the same time there are different." Norio answered, smiling at her like a grandfather would. "The five elements are the basis for the natural world, Naruto and so being in tune with nature means you are more in tune to the elements."

"Would they by any chance hinder my opponents jutsus?"

"Yes, whatever they use is going to be very difficult for them to harm you as you would be able to turn it against them." Naruto eyes gleamed at the fact. "Meditation will also help with concentration and everything requires concentration especially with hand-seals."

Naruto eyes widen with wonderment as she listened to him talk about how she needed to control her abilities and how it will help her with everyday life as well as battlefield. It made Norio proud how he can get the girl listen to him about these types of things.

"Now, close your eyes and start with your meditating."

The petite blond nodded and closed her eyes. Her bloodline was dangerous and if Norio was right about what she could do with it then it made her invaluable to people. She had no doubt that people will kidnap her to get this ability or at least kill her to make sure that it does not fall to other village hands.

But she will rather be killed then be used as breeding stock to make a clan for this god-forsaken village. Yes being killed was a better fate then that, at least she had her dignity when being killed.

* * *

"Why is Naruto late! She is never late!" Sakura mumbled to herself.

It had only been yesterday since they ran into the Suna genin and Naruto saying all those things to them. She had found it strange that Naruto gave that nickname to the redhead seeing as Tanuki were her second favorite animal, first being foxes. Was it possible that her teammate might have a crush on him?

Sakura grinned at the thought of Naruto having a crush. She would pay a lot of money to see the blond acting unlike herself and acting like a fool. And she wasn't the only one, Ino and her actually made a bet that Naruto would never like a guy in a million years and if her hunch was right, then she would be hell a lot richer.

She felt slightly guilty for making the bet. Naruto was her teammate and as much as she loathed admitting it, the blond would never make a bet about her own love life, even if her behavior and attitude towards them says otherwise.

The question now was where is Naruto? She was supposed to be here at 7. 30 and it was nearly 8.40 am and there was no sign of him. Even Sasuke seemed curious. The girl was almost never this late. Sakura crossed her arms and looked at the general direction from were Naruto was supposed to come

"Sasuke-kun, why do you thin think Naruto is not here yet?"

The brooding boy shrugged his shoulders at her and answered, "How am I suppose to know? She might have overslept again, it wouldn't be the first time that happen."

"Then shouldn't one of us go and wake her up, Sasuke-kun?"

The brooding boy raised his eyebrows at his teammate stupid question. Anyone who knew Naruto well will know that waking her up was a bad idea. The girl loved her sleep more then anything else, well not as much as her artworks. But she was still scary.

"Yes, why won't you wake me up, Sasuke?" An amuse voice whispered into his ear. Sasuke twirled around and was surprised to see the blond haired girl was standing right behind him, how could he not notice her? Wait a second, when it came to being invisible Naruto was a natural.

"Naruto! Why the hell are you late? You were nearly as late as Kakashi!" Sakura yelled, waving her fist threatening to her teammate.

Naruto gave her teammate an impassive look and pointed out, "I am only late by one hour and ten minutes, Kakashi-sensei is always late by around two hours and fifty minutes to three hours."

"Why were you late!" Sakura yelled.

The blond haired girl shrugged her shoulders and carelessly admitted, "Slept in, Bubblegum, I can't help it if my ear decides to ignore the alarm clock."

"Oh yes you can!"

The blue-eyed girl sighed at her teammate's yelling and muttered under her breath, "I think you make a better alarm clock with how loud you scream." Why the hell did Norio dismiss her this early? She had begged him to allow her to come here when Kakashi come but the sneaky little old man tricked her.

"Are you even listening to me!" Sakura yelled.

Naruto blinked her eyes at her teammate and said in surprise, "Did you say something Sakura?" Sasuke and Sakura were eerily reminded of their sensei when she said that.

"Y-you have been spending too much time with Kakashi-sensei! You are even starting to act like him, next thing we know you will be reading those perverted books." Sakura accused shakily.

The blond haired girl opened her mouth to protest at her teammate words before shaking her head at her teammate. Was it really worth tiring herself even more? The answer was no. She turned to the spot where Kakashi would appear.

Sure enough he cam followed by his signatory puff of smoke.

"You are late!" Sakura yelled at him.

Kakashi gave them a lazy smile and gave them one of his famous excuses and as usual the three genin looked at him with disbelief before Sakura would accused him of lying.

"Sensei, you do realize that every time you lie your nose gets bigger?" Naruto asked innocently. "I am surprised that your nose isn't as long as stick with the lies that you tell."

Kakashi chuckled at his blond haired girl cheekiness before ruffling said blond girl hair. She glared at him and grumbled about having to clean her hair from his perverted hands, causing the sliver-haired man to smile at her. It seems with him, she didn't bother to hide her disapproval or her cheekiness with him.

"But how will you know what my nose looks like if you had never seen my face?"

The blond haired girl chuckled and said in amusement, "Then why else would you hide your face from us? Unless there is something you wish to hide, maybe that is why you don't have a girlfriend."

Kakashi gawked at her while Sakura laughed at her teammate's words and Sasuke simply smirked at Naruto. The said blond haired girl gave a grin at her sensei before asking him if there are any missions for them to do.

* * *

None of them noticed that the old man Norio, who had decided to watch his new student at work with her teammatew, was watching them. As he watched Kakashi teach them a teamwork exercise, he pondered at the potential that Naruto has and how much use that she has for him.

It had been centuries since he had seen a child that held as much promise as Naruto. The last one had been his own daughter, who had chosen in the end to stay mortal and marry that man, the same man that had cursed him to stay same age for the rest of entirety.

For the last two hundred years, he had been trying to find ways to break this curse. Nothing he had done broke the curse, he had lost hope but years ago he had a vision of the curse breaking as he had grown older and had been able to touch his next set of descendants.

But he couldn't help but wonder if there was another way to break the curse. The only way he can think of that can break this curse was to kill the castor of this curse but the mere thought of his son-in-law being alive made him angry and resentful.

When he gets his hands on the man, he will show the damn man that he had messed with wrong person. Nobody and he mean nobody should curse him with eternal life especially when he has to see his son's descendants grow old and die.

What was worse was the fact that he could never touch his descendent because of this curse. He never held his grandson because of this curse nor was he able to comfort his son when his wife had died. So many things he couldn't do because of that damn bastard.

The only good thing that came was him learning about the world and to see the true nature of human beings. Many people thought the devil could live for a long time but in actual fact, they only live for a hundred years but that is it. The Kyuubi was not truly a demon as it had been made of foul chakra.

Oh well, the mortals will learn the truth soon about the true creation of the Kyuubi. The mortals will soon learn their mistake and when they do, he will have fun laughing at their mistakes especially on the Konoha people.

* * *

Naruto didn't know why or how she seemed to be bumping into Gaara. Okay, well this was the second time but she didn't expect that she would meet him the next day or that she would be bumping into him. She rubbed her head while he stood up.

"Oi, you are not going to help me up?" She asked, glaring at the redhead boy.

"Why should I?" Gaara asked

The blond haired girl raised her eyebrows at him and answered, "Uh because you bumped into me Tanuki-kun and besides it is a gentlemen thing to do."

"One, you bumped into me and two I am not a gentlemen." Gaara said in annoyance. She shrugged her shoulders and gave him a pointed look and then sighed when she saw that he wasn't going to help her. Why can't boys be like gentlemen? Especially the ones like in the book. It was in that moment that Gaara's stomach decided to make itself known.

"As my apology to you, why not I take you somewhere to eat?" Naruto asked, smiling at him. He looked at her as if she was a strange species, which was in her opinion quite rude. "What I can't take you somewhere to eat? I do have to say sorry to you for bumping into you and from the rumble of your stomach, I do believe that you are hungry."

"And if I am not hungry?"

Naruto looked at him in shock and firmly said, "I don't believe you, nothing you will say will change my mind." She gave him a foxy grin, causing the redhead to blush. "Besides, the rumble of your stomach gave you away."

"Why are you insistent that you feed me?" Gaara asked softly.

The blond haired girl blink her blue eyes at the redhead boy in confusion, wondering why the redhead boy was so confuse? She looked at him closely and noticed that he was as malnourished as she was.

"I owe you an apology and the best way for me to express my apology besides saying sorry is to take you out to eat," Naruto answered stiffly, she hesitated before continuing. "I…I am not used to doing this as well."

He raised his non-existent eyebrows at her making her chuckle before taking him by the arm to eat in her favorite restaurant in the whole wide world and Konoha, Ichiraku. She found it amusing to see the surprise in Gaara's eyes when she had touched his arm but she had also found it sad to see the surprise in his eyes. It made her wonder what his life was like in Suna, probably bad.

Gaara studied Naruto, wondering what the girl had done to earn such antipathy from the civilian population. When he had first seen the stares of the villagers, he had thought that they were directed at him but it was when he heard the comments that the cold stares weren't directed at him.

He stared at the blue-eyed girl, who hadn't once let go of his hand and had tighten her grip on his hand as they walk through the village. The calmness in her eyes could have fooled anyone even him but the tight grip of her hand told him how scared and angry she was.

"I have a question to ask of you," Naruto asked suddenly. He raised his non-existent eyebrows at her and he was surprised to see the nervousness in her eyes.

"What is it?"

The blond haired girl looked at the flowers beside him and then to him. She stared at him for a long time before finally getting the courage to ask the question that she wanted to ask. "What is it like living in Suna?" Naruto finally asked.

She silently picked up a sunflower from the ground and put it in her hair as she waited for him to answer her question. She couldn't tell what he was thinking nor could she tell what he was feeling. He was different from all the guys that she knew, he wasn't lazy nor he was sweet and thanks Kami he wasn't a pervert.

"It is similar to how you live here." Gaara finally answered.

Naruto didn't know whether he was talking about her or about the people here but she leaning to the first.

The blond haired girl didn't ask any more questions about Suna nor did she ask any questions about his family as if she knew that it was a bad topic to ask him about. Instead, she had decided to ask him few questions about his stay here and how he was enjoying it.

Finally, the two of them arrived at Ichiraku, which turns out to be a stand that apparently sold ramen. While ramen wasn't his favorite food, it wasn't his least favorite food either. It wasn't common in Suna and he had only had it a few times most likely one or two times, so he hadn't formed much of opinion of it.

"Hi! Teuchi-san! I brought you one more customer!" the blond girl called out to the stand's proprietor as soon as they were seated.

The civilian stared at him and then to Naruto, raising his eyebrows at her in amusement before saying, "I see that you brought yourself a boyfriend, Naruto-chan!"

"He is not my boyfriend!" Naruto yelled.

"Then why are you holding his hand?" Teuchi asked in amusement. Naruto looked down at her hands and was surprised to see that it was still entwined with his hands. Her face was either red from anger or embarrassment which one he didn't know. The ramen stand owner chuckled at her and told her that he was only teasing causing the blond haired girl to roll her eyes at him.

"So, what would you two like to eat?" Teuchi asked.

Naruto smiled at the ramen stand owner and Gaara was surprised to see how real her smile was compare to the one that she had given yesterday. "I will have three bowls of miso ramen while Gaara would have…." She tilted her head towards him and asked, "What would you like to have?"

The redhead shrugged his shoulders at her and she sighed at his behavior before telling the ramen stand owner that he will have one bowl of miso ramen as well. It wasn't long before the man came and gave them their ramen,

"Hey Tanuki-kun, mind telling me why were you so agitated earlier with the civilians?" Naruto asked, looking at him in concern. She couldn't help but slurp as she ate, some habits were really hard to break.

He sighed and answered, "Like I have said earlier, Suna is exactly like Konoha."

The blond haired girl frowned at his words before turning around to see the strolling villagers. "When I was younger, I wonder why I was treated with so differently from the others." Naruto admitted, smiling at him. He didn't know why she was telling him this but he was curious to know how she handled it.

"Why are you telling me this?" Gaara asked, not understanding why the girl was telling him this as they barely met.

"You are curious to know why I am able to handle their stares and distasteful comments." Gaara didn't bother denying her words seeing as it was true.

"Do you know why?"

"I only learned the reason a few months ago and I was so damn angry with how the villagers treated me when I learned of their reasoning." Naruto answered, not telling him why they treated her differently.

"How can you handle it then? How can you handle your hate?"

"I can't handle it," Naruto admitted as she started on her second bowl of ramen. "The best way I can handle it is just by showing them that I am stronger then them and to use my paintings to take my frustration on it."

"Why not hurt them?"

The blue-eyed girl chuckled at his question. Her eyes held no mirth as she chuckled, they held anger and so many other emotions that it was almost painful for him to look at her in the eye. "I have thought about it so many times but if I hurt them then who is right and who is wrong? By not killing them or hurting them I am showing them I am the better person." She finally answered.

"At least by hurting them or killing them you know that they won't betray you." Gaara answered softly.

Naruto tapped her fingers on the table and thoughtfully said, "That is true but they live in fear and one day there fear might get the better of them and…"

"Why are you talking to me? You are already done with your meal and you are ready to pay the bill." Gaara asked, changing the subject. He didn't want to hear from her about what he was doing wrong.

"You are interesting guy..." Naruto admitted. She chuckled and then asked the ramen stand owner for the bill and paid the bill before continuing. "Besides, I like interesting people they make life more fun."

She jumped off the stool and was half way towards the door when Gaara called out, "I think you are an interesting person as well."

Naruto turned towards him to look at him in surprise before giving him a smile. That had to be the first time that she heard an honest compliment from someone and for some reason she rather preferred it was him then someone else.

Gaara was definitely an interesting person.

* * *

**A/N: Please review.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Author Note: It had been months since I last updated and I am sorry for this. This chapter is not as long as I hope for it to be but I hope that you enjoy the chapter. I also want to say thanks to everyone that reviewed the last chapter and added this to their follows and favorite story.**

**Warning: Character might be out of character, FemNaruto and cussing.**

* * *

Norio remembered the first day that he met Naruto.

The young girl had been six years old, always smiling that girl was, not once had he seen a small frown in her face. At first, there was nothing particularly special about the girl, her intelligence was average as well as her strength but there was light in her, which was completely different from the mortals of this village.

The light in her had reminded him so much of his deceased daughter as well as his wife and that boy, Minato, who was his favorite mortal by far, second to that boy Obito.

It was a pity about what happened to the brat.

Through that wasn't the point. The point was that he had often watched the young girl and each time, she intrigued him with those fake smiles and sarcastic comments. He soon learned that it was her defense mechanism against the villagers. The way she acted different from the girls her age was another factor, often had he seen girls younger than Naruto, saying that they were in love.

Blah, what do those kids know about love?

One day, they say that they were in love with one brat and the next day, they say they are smitten with another. Not only that, the boys that they picked were unsuitable with them. Their parents weren't helping either, encouraging them to fall in love with the brats. Brats, who would leave them the moment that they got what they want and these little girls would be sobbing their hearts out, blaming themselves when they should blame their parents.

However, Norio saw that Naruto was different. The young girl was very clueless in love, a trait that he found very appealing. Oh how he wish that youngsters were like her. Life would be so much easier for them if they were oh so very clueless…it would still help him remind him of his adorable, innocent daughter, who had been foolish to marry that bastard.

He clenched his hands into a fist at the reminder of the bastard that cursed him never to become older and never be able to touch his descendants.

Fortunately for him, Naruto would be able to break the curse. He grinned at the mere thought of the curse being broken.

"Norio-sensei, your smile is starting to creep me out!"

The old man laughed at his student and said. "Now, Naruto, I am creep out whenever you have a daze look but you don't see me complaining do you?"

The young girl crossed her arms and glared at him. "I do not have a daze look!" she hissed. "And you complained whenever I start to paint or draw!"

"That's because gaki, you always paint whenever you think I don't watch you meditate." Norio said, grinning at the blonde. "You also have a daze look whenever someone mention the name of certain boy, what is his name again? Oh yes, Gaara."

The blonde gawked at him before flushing deep red, reminding him of her deceased mother especially with that glare. If glares could kill you then he would definitely died.

"I have not been daydreaming about Gaara, you sick perverted old man!" Naruto yelled, swinging her fist at the old man. "We are only acquaintances."

"But, you are thinking of changing that aren't you, Naruto? I mean why else would you have taken him out on a date? And I never said about daydreaming" Norio asked gleefully as he blocked the girl's fist. "Man, kids these days grow up to fast."

"W-What? I didn't take G-Gaara out on a date! And I did not daydreamed about him!" Naruto screeched. Her face was even redder if that was even possible and her punches and kick started to become erratic. "I just needed to apologize to him for bumping into him!"

"Really now? I am sure that you could have just said sorry and just go on your merry way but you didn't." Norio said, dodging the girl's front kick. "Also who said anything about a daydream? Is there something you are not telling, me, Naruto_-chan?"_

The blue-eyed girl glared at the old man and did a high-kick, surprising the old man. Her eye widen in realization when her foot kicked Norio's face and for once, she felt at loss at what she just did. She just punched an old man in the face.

"I didn't mean to, oji-san…I mean I wasn't intentionally planning…"

"Calm down, kid." Norio said looking unfazed at what she had just did. He smiled at her as if it was natural for her to punch him. "I was intentionally leading you to try to beat me up."

"But why?"

"You will know why in a few years time." Norio answered, ruffling her hair. "But, child you do have an impressive kick for someone your age."

The blonde rubbed the back of her neck, not sure how to react towards the praise. Never had people ever praise her, blaming her yes but never praise. Many times, they blame her for the lost of their love ones. They blame her for the accident that happened to her an old orphanage. Never did they praise her for getting good marks instead they accused her of cheating. Yet, this man had praised her.

For some strange reason, she felt proud,

"I worked hard on my kicks."

"I can tell, gaki." Norio said smiling at her. "I haven't been kicked that hard since my wife."

"You were married!"

The old man arched his eyebrows and said. "And why the hell does that surprise you? I was young and handsome once; you know many girls had the hots for me. Man I remember that one girl, who-"

"I don't want to hear the story of you doing the ugly and I honestly don't want to hear about how you did the deed with your wife."

Norio laughed at the young girl's words, ruffling her hair before sighing at the word wife. Just remembering about his deceased wife was painful, he could still remember her sweet smile and the arguments that they had. Even remembering the day they met brought tears of sadness instead of tears of joy. He remembers her sprit and the dreams that they had. Their dreams had been conflicting but that's because they were opposites. She had been his light whilst he had been his darkness but there was nothing that he wouldn't do for his wife.

He remembered his promise to protect their kids, a promise that he had tried his hardest to keep. Only his son understood why he was overprotective about the pair of them while his young daughter was so very furious whenever he would interrogate the guy that she brings. None of them were good for her in his eyes especially that wretched husband of hers.

That wretched husband of hers cursed him, never allowing him to die or to touch his descendants. From who the boy learnt that _art_ was a mystery, one that he is still investigating. It was forbidden for a reason and only one type of person can break the curse and the person was sitting right in front of him.

"I will get my revenge." Norio muttered darkly, looking angrily at the sky. "And you will pay for what you did to my family."

A man that uses his daughter is not one that he will allow to live.

* * *

Naruto will never admit this to anyone, not even to the old man Norio but for the past week, she had been trying to find a way to talk to Gaara without pretending to be something she is not.

It was hard because her heart beat erratically when she had been with him, which had only been two times. Her face would become red as a tomato whenever she thought about him and her stomach would doing summersaults at the mere thought of the redhead.

Her whole body shake when she is near him, which was disgusting in her mind because Naruto hated the idea of being weak, but she couldn't control it. At times, she had the strangest dreams about him. It was even hard to breath around him or even the mere thought of him.

It was so damn confusing.

She didn't know him and she had these irrational feelings for him. Hell, Naruto can't even identify the emotions that she has for him and there was no one to talk about this. Kakashi was a horrible person to go to, he reads porn for goodness sake, which gives her the idea that he has never been laid. Sasuke was a boy, who probably never had a crush on a girl. Going to Sakura might be logical; they were both girls and they were teammates but the pink-haired girl made her school-life terrible.

So who could she go to talk about this?

The answer was no one, which means that she would have to figure these emotions by herself. She had the whole of the Chunin Exams to learn what these weird emotions were seeing as their sensei nominated her and her teammates for the Chunin Exams. The bastard of a sensei had to be one of the laziest people you would ever meet, she should know because she knew many people, who are laid back. Now, he gave her no choice but to confront Gaara during these exams.

She didn't want to confront him.

Looking at the mirror, Naruto had to wonder if it was truly a good idea for her to do the exams. She had doubts that she would become a Chunin, were her abilities enough to make her a Chunin? There was no doubt that she was stronger but just by how much? Norio hadn't allowed her to test her abilities, saying that at the moment, she hadn't control it to the level that he wanted.

"This is stupid! I should just stay at home and return back to painting my portraits." Naruto said to her reflections, crossing her arms around her chest.

Looking at the portraits around her, the blonde noticed that there was a common thread to the new ones. All of them were centered on a faceless man, it wasn't her intention to make him like this but Naruto couldn't picture his face. It was just so difficult to do so.

The man was young, probably around his mid-twenties but she wasn't sure. Sometimes, she pictures him to be older while other times, it feels like he was older but Naruto is never sure. The only thing that can be sure is that the man always wore a dark cloak around his body, covering his face. The only feature that you could see from the cloak was his chestnut brown hair.

For some strange reason, he felt oddly familiar to her and a part of her thinks that she knows this man.

The question is how?

The ticking of the clock reminded her that she should go to the exams or else, Sasuke and Sakura would ask her annoying questions on why she wasn't there.

* * *

Much to Naruto's surprise, her teammates had not scolded her for being late. Frankly, the blue-eyed girl knew that Sasuke would never open his mouth to talk to her unless it was how to get stronger or to beg her to save him from his evil fangirls, well the last part was a lie but hey a girl can dream. Honestly, not once had he said thanks to her for saving him from his disgusting fangirls.

Sakura, on the other hand, had been awfully quite and this troubled the young girl. Out of all three of them, the pink-haired girl was the loudest so for her to be silent was one filled with worry. The hesitant look on Sakura's face just made her worry even worse because the pink-haired girl is rarely hesitant about anything. A trait that she found annoying but now wanted to hear because a quiet Sakura was a worried Sakura.

Hopefully, it would fade doing the course of the exams.

She rubbed her temple as they walked towards the room; where they were suppose to turn their applications in. They might have gotten there later if Naruto had made sure that Sasuke listened to her suggestion about keeping his mouth shut when it came to the test on the second floor. And to think, all it took was a little bit of blackmail material to keep him quiet.

Naruto scowl as she looked around the large arena-like room that didn't fit the interior of the Academy.

"Hey, guy with dark eyes!" a loud voice yelled as they reached the center of the room.

The blue-eyed had the urge to shield her eyes, when she saw a boy wearing a hideous green spandex jumpsuit standing on the balcony that surrounded the room.

Were those eyebrows even real?

Naruto shivered at the mere idea of those eyebrows being real because who would be crazy to grow their eyebrows like that? It was just plain senseless to have eyebrows that huge. No girl would like a boy with huge eyebrows right? Oh maybe they do and she was the strange one.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked, looking quite annoyed at the spandex-wearing boy.

"Will you fight me right here?"

"A fight right now?"

The blue-eyed girl glanced at the older boy in curiosity before grimacing, already feeling suspicious about the boy. Looking at her teammate, Naruto was taken back by the glint in his eyes and it took all of her will power, not to groan. Doesn't Sasuke know that they were in a tight schedule? And this wasn't the time to get into a fight.

"My name is Rock Lee." Lee introduced himself as he did a front flip off the balcony and landed gracefully on the floor.

"Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke scoffed.

"I want to fight you." Lee said as he shifted his body into a taijutsu stance. "I want to test my techniques against the offspring of the genius ninja clan."

The blonde sighed and looked at her teammate in annoyance. "Normally, I will not give a damn if you get challenged into a fight but, I will make this an exception…." She said, looking at Lee with displeasure. "This isn't the time for the pair of you get into a fight! There is no time for us to fool around! We can get disqualified for all we know because of this!"

"We also got thirty minutes as well." Sakura added.

Naruto turned her head at her teammate and said in frustration. "Telling him that we only got thirty minutes will not stop him from doing something so idiotic!"

"Well, I think-"

"Challenging me knowing the Uchiha name…frankly you are a fool." Sasuke said, interrupting the two girls before a fight could happen between them. "You're about to learn what this name means, thick brows."

Naruto smacked her forehead against the wall before glaring furiously at the two boys. They have plenty of time to fight during the exam but no these idiotic boys want to fight now! What the hell is wrong with them? Were they dropped in the head when they were babies? Because this is how they are behaving.

"Got a problem, dope!" Sasuke growled.

The blonde rubbed her forehead and answered. "Of course, I got a problem! The pair of you are a bunch of idiots!" he glared at her but the blonde wasn't fazed. "You guys can fight during the exam, not now! You are going to cause a commotion and then the examiners will come here, yelling at us for doing something as idiotic as this! Then what? We get disqualify and all because you were being impulsive! And what happens if you get hurt huh? What then?"

"So what! I will be the one that will be disqualify not you and Sakura!"

The whiskered girl trembled in anger. "BAKA! I AM NOT CONCERN ABOUT US GETTING DISQUALIFY, I AM WORRIED ABOUT YOUR SAFETY!" she yelled. "YOU ARE DOING SOMETHING RECKLESS AGAIN! HONESTLY, SASUKE CAN'T YOU SEE THAT I DON'T WANT YOU TO DO THIS BECAUSE IT MIGHT GET YOU INJURED! HONESTLY, YOU NEVER THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU DO! HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT THAT WE DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU GET HURT!"

Sasuke faltered at this, causing the blonde to look hopeful that her teammate will actually listen to her for once. Not many people knew this but, there was a time when she and the raven-haired boy were actually friends, this changed when his whole family died. He stopped becoming the Sasuke, she knew and became like a ghost.

"He insulted my clan, Naruto, this isn't something that I can forgive! Thick brows must learn what this name means!" Sasuke said softly, looking at the blonde with an unreadable expression.

"Please…" Lee said, not helping Naruto with her predicament with her teammate. He proceeded to make a 'come hither' motion with his hand, causing the young girl to feel annoyed at him.

Naruto clasped her hand into a fist, looking quite aggravated at the two boys. She wanted to punch the raven-haired boy in the face for accepting the fight as well as kick Lee for asking a fight. There was no way in hell that this wouldn't end without someone getting hurt.

"You are starting to make me angry, Sasuke! I understand your need to avenge this insult but getting into a fight now is completely stupid!" She said, stomping her foot on the floor. "However, I know you well enough to know that nothing I say will change your mind but if you get hurt then you are healing your own wounds because Sakura and I will not heal those pointless injuries. Oh and, I will say I told you so!"

Sasuke nodded numbly while Sakura looked ready to protest at her words, about not healing the Uchiha heir. Didn't she realize that it would be her chance to get Sasuke to notice her? And why shouldn't they heal him? He was their teammate and deserves to get treatment for the wounds that he might have.

* * *

Unknown to Naruto and her companions, Norio was standing on the balcony watching them along with Gaara. The old man was hidden in the shadows, staring intently at the redhead boy.

Norio smile at the lack of emotion on the boy's face. He didn't need to read his face to know his emotions; all he needed to do was to read his body language and his body language told him that he was curious. The boy was intrigued by something or to be more precise, his student, who looked quite angry. The slight tilt also told him that he was confused about something.

The old man had pretty good idea on what that something.

In all honesty, he thought that Gaara and Naruto would make a strange pair.

The old man had watched the pair of them last week and it was painfully evident that there was something between them. It wasn't love; through it does have the potential to become love. He may be a crazy to think about them like this but Norio always thought more of the future when it came to that little girl.

"Isn't it ironic that the girl I am using is the same girl that I consider as a granddaughter." Norio said scathingly. "Man, aren't I the best grandfather? I should really get a prize of grandfather of the year."

He sighed and leaned against the wall, feeling quite tired. At times, Norio felt that he was a monster, using a young girl like Naruto for his own personal gain but remembering that horrible man just made him forget those thoughts. Yet, looking at Gaara and Naruto, he was reminded just how dark his past was.

His past was filled with ghosts and the only good thing that ever happened to him had been his family.

It was quite sadistic of him to feel a bit of anger at Gaara, the boy reminded him of when he had been young.

Maybe this is why he was hopeful of Naruto's future because of the fact that the boy reminded him of when he had been young…before he met his wife. A part of him knew that Naruto would change the boy just like his wife had done to him.

* * *

Naruto hit her forehead as she watched Sasuke get beaten up by Lee. Why oh why hadn't she tried harder to stop them? It would save her from all the brain damage.

Honestly, the blonde wonders where Sasuke get the lack of teamwork. Did he inherit it from his clan or was it because he saw his whole family die? It was the latter because when they were kids, the raven-haired boy wasn't that bad with their classmates when they were younger.

In general, everything changed when his whole family had died. Sasuke wasn't the same happy-go-lucky kid that he was when he was younger instead he became like this. It worries Naruto when she sees him act more withdrawn than usual.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled, drawing Naruto's attention back to Sasuke. The blue-eyed girl sighed at the sight of Sasuke falling down to the ground, making no attempt to save her teammate/friend; instead she looked at the clock. Hmm, ten more minutes till the exam starts.

She looked around the room to see if there were any examiners watching them. Her eyes widen when she saw Gaara standing on the balcony and for some strange reason, her face started to become hotter when he looked at her. Naruto gave him a small smile, causing him to frown.

She looked down at her feet and started to rub them together, trying to distract herself from looking at him.

He made her feel so many peculiar emotions even when he is not here. It was confusing and frustrating because normally, Naruto doesn't experience these reactions but with him, it happens almost every time when she is near him.

"How could this happen? Sasuke-kun is unbeatable!" Sakura said, looking quite annoyed and angry at the current situation. "He must be using some kind of underhanded trick."

"No, it just seem like Lee is just better than Sasuke." Naruto said softly. She had also thought that Sasuke would beat Lee but it seems like her thoughts were wrong. "And by the looks of things, Lee may be one of the strongest contenders in this competition."

"Well, he is not stronger than Sasuke-kun, Naruto!" Sakura said, looking at her teammate in annoyance.

"Perhaps, you are right but perhaps you are wrong and this guy is stronger than Sasuke." Naruto said, rubbing her chin. "Sasuke might be better than Lee in some areas, there might be an area that Lee excel in and in this case, it is obvious that he is stronger in taijutsu."

"How dare you say that Lee is stronger than Sasuke-kun." Sakura said, looking cross at the young girl.

"I am just stating my opinion." Naruto said, raising her hand defensively. "Sasuke is getting beaten up by Lee, I think that tells you that he isn't the strongest person in this whole exam."

Sakura opened her mouth to argue but in that moment a pink, paper, windmill flew between the two soaring ninjas, pinning the bindings against the wall.

"That is enough Lee!"

Naruto and Sakura turned around and were shocked to see a huge turtle in front of them, wearing a Konoha headband around his neck.

Rock Lee changed his direction, controlling his fall so that he fell to the floor immediately. He twirled in the air, holding onto the loose binding until he landed. The blue-eyed girl rubbed her temple as she watched Sakura catch their black-haired teammate.

Sakura looked at Naruto, who just narrowed her eyes at Sasuke before walking towards them. The blonde wasn't even crying for what just happened to the Last Uchiha nor did she looked worried? What type of teammate was this girl? Sometimes she wonders why Naruto even bother to become a ninja if she couldn't even care for Sasuke.

"Are you alright Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked.

"He certainly doesn't seem injured, thank goodness but his pride must have gotten a real beat down." She answered, glaring at her teammate. "Now, you baka, this is where I say I told you so! Think before you do something stupid, Sasuke."

"Shut up, Naruto!"

The blonde smiled and pinched Sasuke's cheek, causing him to glare at her. "Now, now I have some right to say I told you so." She said, pinching his cheek even harder. "I told you that you might get injured but like an idiot you didn't listen! So it is only fair I say I told you so, you big baby."

"Naruto-baka, shut up!" Sakura shrieked.

Naruto let go of Sasuke's cheek and glowered at her, saying angrily. "I will not shut up Sakura! Sasuke needs to learn that he should start listening to us as well as learn that he isn't the best! You are not helping him in this matter, in actual fact; you are making him become even worse! You and the village! How is he expected to move on when you guys keep reminding him? He needs to accept the fact that it is behaviour is holding him back! He isn't the greatest genin in this village!"

"Naruto!"

"I am not going to lie and fawn over Sasuke!" Naruto said coldly. "If I do then I am going to be something I am not and I am not a fake."

"Why you little-"

"Sakura, is it by any chance possible for a turtle to become a ninja?" Naruto asked, suddenly noticing the turtle that was currently scolding Lee.

"How the hell would I know!" Sakura yelled, looking at her with annoyance.

"Because you paid attention to Iruka-sensei's speeches." Naruto said dryly. "Unlike me, who often slept through his speeches. It is miracle that I even passed the exams."

The pink-haired girl nodded in agreement.

"You think you can get away with an excuse like that? You already know what it means for a shinobi to reveal his special techniques!" The turtle yelled at the terrified Lee.

"Yes!" screamed Lee.

"Are you prepared to pay?" the turtle asked.

Lee reluctantly nodded his head and hunched his back before saying, "Yes."

"Then here comes Gai-sensei!" The turtle yelled as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke, revealing the weirdest thing Konoha had to offer. Maito Gai.

"You guys are the epitome of youth!" Gai yelled. Naruto turned pale as she noticed the huge eyebrows that he had and the clothes that he wore.

Now, she knew where Lee got his strange sense of fashion.

"He has got even thicker eyebrows!" yelled Sakura.

"It is worse than Lee's if that is even possible." Naruto said in agreement. "But seriously the spandex? What's the deal with the spandex? No girl would like to see a guy wear such a repulsive design."

Sakura nodded in agreement about the clothing and added her own comments about Gai and Lee's sense of fashion. Naruto smiled in relief that she wasn't the only one that found their sense of style disturbing.

"Hey! Don't insult Gai-sensei!"

"I have every right to insult your sensei! And how do you expect me to react! Not only there is a talking turtle but now your sensei! It seems like our team attract weirdoes." Naruto said angrily, looking ready to throttle the boy.

"What did you say?"

"You heard me-"

"Lee!" Gai said, interrupting the two of them. He waved his hand to his student to come closer to him.

"Oh yes…" Lee asked.

"YOU FOOL!" Gai slammed his fist into Lee's face sending him to the ground causing all three genins to gape in shock. Naruto now knew that Gai was not insane, he was mad.

"You are…you are…"

"Sensei…" both student and teacher had tears in their eyes.

"Sensei…I…I"

"That's enough Lee, you don't need to say it."

"Gai-sensei."

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

Both ninja hugged each other, causing Team Seven as well as Gaara and Norio to gape as well as feeling sick.

_I have seen so many sick things in my life but this is so worse if that is even possible. _Thought Naruto, trying to hold back the vomit that was threatening to come out and she hoped that it didn't get worse. She was wrong it did get worse because suddenly a sunset appeared behind them. She tried dispelling it but to her horror it didn't work.

"Sakura, do me a favour."

"What?" Sakura asked.

"If it doesn't disappear in ten minutes, then I want you to kill me and then sell my artwork."

The pink-haired girl nodded and said. "I will only do that if you can do the same for me."

Naruto smiled at this and was happy to see that her teammate would be as kind as to kill her because she asked her to. There were many things that Naruto consider as affectionate but the sight in front of her was very wrong and in so many levels.

"When will it end?" Sakura asked.

The blonde shrugged and looked at the clock. "We should go anyways." She said. "And I say now before they even realize that we are still here."

The other two members of Team Seven nodded in agreement and started to walk as quietly as they could to the stairs but were stopped by Gai, who was smiling creepily at them. Naruto didn't know how he came from the other side of the room to them so quickly and she didn't care. All she cared about was getting away from him.

"How is Kakashi-sensei doing?" Gai asked.

The blond frowned before sighing at the fact that their sensei knows this weirdo as well. Was it too much to ask for a day without weirdoes? Well to be fair she was one as well but not by choice.

"You know Kakashi?" Sasuke asked.

"You got to be kidding me." Naruto muttered as Gai began to tell them about how their eternal rivals and how much stronger he was then Kakashi. The blond didn't doubt the man but she did doubt about how sane he was.

Still she had never been gladder to be in Kakashi's team till now. She shudder at the thought of her sensei being like Gai or even worse if that was possible.

Thank Kami for giving her Kakashi and not Gai.

Naruto doesn't know how she could handle her life if she had that insane man instead of having her less eccentric teacher. Maybe she would have worn those jumpsuits or something worse? She shudders just at the mere thought of wearing the repulsive jumpsuits.

She was definitely grateful to Kami for giving her Kakashi and Norio.

* * *

Norio followed Naruto and her team towards the classroom, where they were about to do the exam. It was something a stalker would do but he wanted to see how well his training had been to the girl. Wasn't he lucky that years of being an assassin allowed him to sneak in was easy?

He lick his crack lips when he saw the surprise look on Naruto's face when she saw her sensei standing in front of the classroom. It had been a while since he had been in this part of the building, the last time being when the young girl's father had been alive.

The old man shook his head at the thought of Minato.

The good ones always die young and Minato proved that theory he had but the boy had died for a good cause. Protecting your love ones is a honourable death, one that even he respected. Norio smiled sadly at the young girl, who was arguing with her teammate.

He wanted to tell Naruto about her father but he knew that it wasn't the right time. Give her the end of these exams and he will tell her about her parents, for now he want to see that smile in her pretty face.

"Now we can properly take the exam."

Norio arched his eyebrow and small smile played on his lips, remembering the exact words that Minato's sensei had used on the man when he came here. Goodness, had it been that long already? It felt nostalgic watching Naruto frowning, the same frown that Minato used to have when he was confuse.

"What do you mean?" The pink-haired girl asked.

It keeps surprising him that people had such unnatural hair-colour and he should get used to it although he lived for so many years, it didn't mean that he knew everything. Everyday, he was learning something new either from Naruto or just by watching.

"…You lied to us?" The green-eyed girl screeched, causing the old man to put his fingers in his year.

"He didn't lie to us, Sakura, our sensei forgot to tell us, about this important information." Naruto sneered, giving a pointed look at her sensei in anger.

Norio snorted in agreement with his student. Looking underneath the underneath was important but withholding information from them was dangerous. They could die because of the lack of information especially in Naruto's case.

If he hadn't inform her about her powers than the girl would had destroy the village because of her lack of knowledge, and the blame would be on the Sandaime Hokage.

Don't turn the child to a weapon; well that was a load of bullshit. All ninjas were tools to be used and the child was a jinchuuriki, she was supposed to be used as a weapon.

Norio had every intention of turning the child to a weapon.

* * *

**Author Note: I hope that you like this chapter and I am sorry if it isn't as long as you like. I would like to hear some constructive criticism about the story and I am glad that everyone like how I portray Fem!Naru in this fanfic. I always dislike fanfics where she is weak and dependent on males.**


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